Sumi Hwang and Jonas Vitaud

Program

Winner of the 2014 International Queen Elisabeth Competition, Korean-born soprano Sumi Hwang has launched her opera career with engagements at Germany’s Theater Bonn and Theater Regensburg. Hwang is also the recipient of first place at the 2014 Emmerich Smola Förderpreis in Landau, Germany. For her US debut at the Phillips, Hwang performs vocal works by Schumann, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Berg. She is joined by pianist Jonas Vitaud.

Program

Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
from Myrthen, Op. 25
Widmung
Der Nussbaum
Lied der Suleika

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
Oh, quand je dors
Enfant, si j’étais roi

Petrarch’s Sonnet 104
from Années de pèlerinage - Deuxième année: Italie, S.161
Solo piano works performed by Jonas Vitaud

Alban Berg (1885–1935)
From Seven Early Songs
Nacht
Schilflied
Die Nachtigall

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1902)
From 12 Romances, Op. 21
Ne poy, krasavitza pri mne
Spring Waters (Vesennie Vodô)

Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904)
Song to the Moon from Rusalka

About the Artist

Sumi Hwang began her studies at the National University of Seoul before pursuing them at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich with Frieder Lang, Donald Sulzen and Céline Dutilly. In 2012 she was a laureate at the international competition of the ARD in Munich and then won the Anneliese Rothenberger competition (in Constance, Germany) the following year, and the Emmerich Smola competition (in Kaiserslautern, Germany) in 2014. She also took part in master classes with Dalton Baldwin, Lorraine Nubar and Helmut Deutsch. On stage she played the parts of the princess (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges by Ravel) at the National Opera of Korea, Norina (I pazzi per progetto by Donizetti) at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, and has performed under the baton of Dan Ettinger and Enrico Delamboye, among others.

Jonas Vitaud studied with Brigitte Engerer, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Christian Ivaldi and was given four first prizes at the Paris National Conservatory (piano, chamber music, harmony and piano accompaniment). He has been awarded several international prizes as a soloist and in chamber music (Lyon, ARD in Munich, Trieste, Beethoven in Vienna).

Vitaud continues to give performances in recital and also with orchestras. He appears regularly at numerous famous festivals in Europe and throughout the world as la Roque d’Anthéron, les Musicales de Saint Côme, La Chaise Dieu Festival, Pâques à Deauville in France, Goslar festival, Richard Strauss Festival in Germany, Caserta in Italy, iDans in Turkey, French May in Hong Kong. He is invited to perform as a soloist with orchestras in Europe, including the Toulouse’s Capitole Orchestra, the Philarmonic of Moravia, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Vitaud has also dedicated himself to chamber music, a passion that he has shared with such artists as Janina Baechle, Bertrand Chamayou, Henri Demarquette, Thierry Escaich, Gérard Caussé, Janja Vuletic, Geneviève Laurenceau. Passionate about contemporary music, he has premiered works of such gifted composers as Thierry Escaich, Christian Lauba, Edmund Campion. He has worked with, among others, Henri Dutilleux, György Kurtag, who have inspired him greatly and have helped him develop as an artist.

Vitaud released his first solo album dedicated to Johannes Brahms. Since 2013, he teaches at the Paris National Conservatory.